Toy

ABSTRACT

The toy described here is formed by two semi-cylindrical bodies connected together via bands. This toy is able to vary the represented images in a simple and surprising manner, thus increasing the playing possibilities and the fun of the child.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Italian patent application No. TO2014A000100 filed on Feb. 7, 2014, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a toy having the characteristics referred to in the claims that follow.

In preferred embodiments, the toy in question forms a structure configured to define a toy scenic environment. Thanks to the characteristics that distinguish it, the toy described here allows the variation of the represented scenic design, in a simple and surprising manner, thus increasing the playing possibilities and the fun of the child.

The claims form an integral part of the technical disclosure given here in relation to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description that follows with reference to the accompanying drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views that represent an embodiment of the toy described here in two different conditions;

FIG. 2 represents a constituent element of the toy described here;

FIG. 3 represents a schematic diagram of a mode of use of the toy described here;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views that represent the toy of FIG. 1 in two different conditions;

FIG. 6 is a rear view according to the arrow VI of the toy of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, various specific details are illustrated aimed at a thorough understanding of the embodiments. The embodiments can be implemented without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, or materials etc. In other cases, known material structures or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring the various aspects of the embodiment.

The references used herein are for convenience only and therefore do not define the field of protection or the scope of the embodiments.

With reference to the figures, in general, the toy described herein, indicated as a whole with the numeric reference 100, comprises:

-   -   a first body 2 having a first surface 2A of cylindrical         geometry, with a semicircular profile or in any case with an         arc-of-circle profile, and     -   a second body 4 having a second surface 4A of cylindrical         geometry, with a semicircular profile or in any case with an         arc-of-circle profile.

In various embodiments, as in the one shown in the figures, the first and the second body have two complementary half-shell structures, so as to form, when coupled together, a closed casing 10 that is essentially cylindrical, of which the aforesaid first and second surfaces together constitute the side wall of the casing. The bodies 2 and 4 have, in particular, respective pairs of opposite sides 2B, 4B (visible in FIG. 6), suitable for delimiting the upper and lower cylindrical surface of the body; in the coupled condition of the two bodies, these sides together form the lower side and the upper side of the casing 10.

It is noted that the bodies 2 and 4 can also present other configurations. In particular, they do not necessarily have to be two half-shells, but can also be two filled bodies. They are preferably made of plastic material, but can also be made of other materials, such as paper or cardboard.

The toy described here also comprises at least two bands, in the illustrated embodiment there are three, indicated with the references 61, 62, 63, respectively, which bind together the two bodies in a manner that allows each of these to rotate around the other body. These bands are made of flexible sheet material, such as plastic, fabric, paper or cardboard, etc.

In various embodiments, as in the one illustrated, the toy comprises, in particular, a first band 61 having a first free central portion 61A, intended to be selectively wound around the first surface of the first body and around the second surface of the second body, and two end portions 61B at opposite sides of the central portion, fixed respectively on a first edge of the first body, which transversely delimits the first surface, and on a first edge of the second body, which transversely delimits the second surface (FIG. 6). The toy also includes a second band 62 having a second free central portion 62A, intended to be selectively wound around the first surface of the first body and around the second surface of the second body, and two end portions 62B at opposite sides of the central portion, fixed respectively on a second edge of the first body, which transversely delimits the first surface on a side opposite to the first edge, and on a second edge of the second body, which transversely delimits the second surface on an opposite side compared to the first edge (FIG. 6). The central portions 61A, 62A extend from one of the end portions of the respective band to the other, and have a length essentially equal to the length of the transverse profiles of the surfaces 2A, 4A. Regarding this, it should be noted that the surfaces 2A and 4A preferably have transverse profiles of the same length.

In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, an additional band 63 is provided, with a central portion 63A and end portions 63B, and is connected to the bodies 2 and 4 in the same manner described above with reference to the first band 61 (FIG. 6). In this embodiment, the first band 61 and the third band 63 are arranged above and below the band 62, according to a mutually symmetrical configuration with respect to the latter. It should be noted that in the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the aforesaid edges to which the end portions of the bands are fixed correspond to the longitudinal edges of the half shells formed by the bodies 2 and 4.

The free portions 61A, 62A and 63A of the bands are connected at their respective end portions 61B, 62B and 63B via folding lines 61′, 62′, 63′, which allow the mutual rotation between the different portions; as will be seen below, in the relative rotation of the bodies 2 and 4, the folding lines of each band operate as alternative hinging axes of the two bodies. The end portions of the bands may be fixed to the bodies 2 and 4 in any known manner by the expert technician, for example by glue.

As mentioned above, the configuration illustrated above allows each of the bodies 2 and 4 to rotate around the other body.

With reference now to FIG. 3, it shows how, in the specific case illustrated, the body 2 is able to rotate all around the body 4 to complete a rotation about itself of 720°. In this figure, the initial step A illustrates the bodies 2 and 4 in the mutually coupled condition in which the housing 10 is formed. In step B, the body 2 is rotated with respect to the body 4 in a clockwise direction, around the first folding lines 61′, 62′, 63′ of the bands, which bind the two bodies 2 and 4 in rotation with each other. Once 180° is exceeded, (see step C), the body 2 starts to roll with its surface 2A on the surface 4A of the body 4. As illustrated in steps D, E and F, during this movement, the band 62, initially wound around the body 2, gradually transfers onto the body 4, and similarly the bands 61 and 63, initially wound on the body 4, gradually transfer onto the body 2. Once 540° is exceeded (see step G), the body 2 once again rotates with respect to the body 4 around the folding lines 61′, 62′, 63′ of the bands, this time around the second folding lines opposite to the lines involved in step B. The rotation ends with the two bodies 2 and 4 being carried to their mutually coupled condition (step H).

It should be noted that during the relative rolling of the surfaces 2A and 4A, illustrated in steps D, E, and F, the two bodies 2 and 4 continue to be held together by the bands 61, 62, and 63, which unwind from a surface and then wind around the other, thus allowing the rolling movement of the two bodies.

As mentioned at the beginning, the toy described here can form a structure configured to represent a toy scenic environment. In this application, the operation illustrated above can be exploited to obtain the variation of the represented scenic environment, in a simple and surprising manner. For this purpose, it is sufficient to divide the two representative images of two different toy environments into suitable portions, respectively depicted on opposite faces of the bands and/or on the cylindrical surfaces of the first and second body, according to a criterion so that, in the condition in which the first and third bands are wound on the first body, and the second band is wound on the second body, the composite of the externally visible portions, depicted on the bands and the cylindrical surfaces, forms the first environment, while in the condition in which the first and the third bands are wound on the second body and the second band is wound on the first body, the composite of the externally visible portions forms the second environment. The transition from the first to the second environment therefore simply involves the operation illustrated in FIG. 3.

Regarding this, the example illustrated in the figures immediately clarifies the application of this principle. Indeed, FIG. 2 shows that the individual bands 61, 62, and 63 represent, on the two opposite faces, a series of circles and a series of squares, respectively, each suitable for identifying two different types of scenic designs in a schematic way. Therefore, FIG. 1A illustrates the condition of the toy 100 in which the bands 61 and 63, wound on the body 4, and the band 62, wound on the body 2, depict the scenic design formed of only squares, while FIG. 1B illustrates the condition in which the bands 61 and 63, this time wound on the body 2, and the band 62 wound on the body 1, depict the scenic design formed of only circles. Obviously, the portions of the surfaces 2A and 4A, each time externally visible in the two conditions of FIGS. 1A and 1B, can also be used to define the two different scenic designs, together with the bands.

As mentioned above, the transition from one condition to the other is obtained by the operation illustrated in FIG. 3; regarding this, it should be noted that FIG. 4 illustrates the toy in a condition essentially corresponding to that represented in step D of FIG. 3, while FIG. 5 illustrates the toy in a condition essentially corresponding to that shown in step F of FIG. 3.

The general principle described above can obviously be exploited for various toy applications and is not limited to the variation of images in a toy scenic element.

Of course, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary, even significantly, with respect to what is illustrated here purely by way of non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A toy comprising: a first body having a first surface of cylindrical geometry with a semicircular profile or an arc-of-circle profile; a second body having a second surface of cylindrical geometry with a semicircular profile or with a second arc-of-circle profile, flexible-band means interconnecting said first and second body in such a way as to allow a mutual rotation by means of rolling of said first and second surfaces against one another.
 2. The toy according to claim 1, wherein said band means comprise: a first band having a first free central portion, intended to be selectively wound around said first surface and around said second surface, and two end portions at opposite sides of said central portion, fixed respectively on a first edge of said first body, which transversely delimits said first surface, and on a first edge of said second body, which transversely delimits said second surface; a second band having a second free central portion, intended to be selectively wound around said first surface and around said second surface, and two end portions at opposite sides of said central portion fixed respectively on a second edge of said first body, which transversely delimits said first surface on an opposite side with respect to said first edge, and on a second edge of said second body, which transversely delimits said second surface on an opposite side with respect to said first edge; wherein said first central portion and said second central portion extend from one of the end portions of the respective band to the other, and have a length essentially equal to the length of said profiles of said first and second surface.
 3. The toy according to claim 2, comprising a third band having a third free central portion, intended to be selectively wound around said first surface and around said second surface, and two end portions at the opposite sides of said central portion, fixed respectively on said first edge of said first body, and on said first edge of said second body.
 4. The toy according to claim 3, wherein said first and third band are arranged above and below said second band, according to a mutually symmetrical configuration with respect to the latter.
 5. The toy according to claim 2, wherein said first and second band have images on both of their respective opposing faces.
 6. The toy according to claim 5, wherein said first and second surfaces are each subdivided into a first and a second region having respective representations, in a manner such that when said first band is wound on said first surface and said second band is wound on said second surface, the first faces of said first and second band and the first regions of said first and second surfaces together represent a given first representation, the second regions of said first and second surfaces being covered by said first and second band, and in such a way that when said first band is wound on said second surface and said second band is wound on said first surface, the second faces of said first and second band and said second regions of said first and second surface together represent a given second representation, said first regions of said first and second surfaces being covered by said first and second band.
 7. The toy according to claim 1, wherein said mutual rotation of said first and second body is of a greater entity than 360°.
 8. The toy according to claim 7, wherein said mutual rotation comprises 720°. 